Page 8-Thursday, May 29, 1980-The Michigan Daily
New Iranian
parliament fails
to decide fate
of hostages
4
I
FromUPIand AP
TEHRAN, Iran - The Iranian
parliament convened yesterday and the
U.S. Embassy militants warned the
lawmakers to furnish an "acceptable
reason" if they decide not to try the 53 '
American hostages as spies.
But as the members of the cleric-
dominated Majlis mapped out their
priorities amid readings from the
Koran and revolutionary chants, it
became evident that they would not
begin to debate the fate of the hostages,
now in their 207th day of captivity, for
several weeks.
HASSAN HABIBI, spokesman for the
ruling Revolutionary Council, said
parliament must first debate the selec-
tion of a prime minister, among other
domestic issues, adding that would take
at least three weeks.
And in Washington,, State Depar-
tment spokesman Thomas Reston said
the Carter administration would await
Iranian reaction to the World Court
decision ordering the hostages' release
before taking its case for sanctions
back to the United Nations. Iran has
already called the World Court decision
"meaningless."
In a statement broadcast yesterday
over Tehran Radio, the militants urged
Parliament to ignore pleas from the
"great satan," the United States, and
added:
"IF AMERICA returns the traitor
(deposed Shah Mohammad Reza
Pahlavi) and the wealth he has plun-
dered, the hostages will be reprieved
and expelled from Iran. Otherwise they
will be tried and punished. Lack of
compromise is the key to victory."
The first session of parliament
opened with a 13-minute reading from
the Koran and an address by Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini, delivered by his
son Sayed Ahmad, who was interrupted
frequently by chants of "We are your
soldiers, Khomeini."
Khomeini has empowered
parliament to decide the fate of the
hostages but he made no reference to
the crisis in his address, which instruc-
ted the deputies to "fight all big powers
with utmost force and uproot leftists,
rightists or corrupt tissues of the
devil."
He ordered them to follow "the holy
edicts of Islam" and enforce a foreign
policy "=leaning neither to the East nor
West."
A total of 213 deputies, the vast
majority of them clerics dressed in long
robes, were sworn in as members of the
270-seat Majlis ina two-hour ceremony.
Interior Minister Ayatollah Mahdavi
Kani said another 21 elected deputies
were not accredited "for various
reasons" but did not elaborate.
IRANIAN PRESIDENT ABOLHASSAN Bani-Sadr speaks yesterday at the
opening of the new Iranian parliament. He told members that Iran faces deep
economic woes, and warned of the dangers of violence in areas such as Kur-
distan. The American hostage issue was not raised during the session.
STATE 1-2-3-4 FRI & SAT MIDNIGHT SHOWS
RY OF 0" (X)I- "ALEGRO-NON-TROPPO" & "HARWARE I
Judge
ordered
to review
fshing law
GRAND RAPIDS (UPI)- - U.S.
District Judge Noel Fox has been or-
dered by a federal appeals court to
review his controversial Indian fishing
rights decision to see if new federal
regulations may affect the ruling.
But Fox said yesterday he had not of-
ficially been notified of the order, which
was issued earlier in the day by the U.S.
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cin-
cinnati.
The judge said he would not comment
on the order, or the amount of time it
would take him to comply with the ap-
pellate court decision, until he had read
the ruling.
A review of the case could open the
way for a reversal of Fox's decision last
year in which he said treaties gave the
Indians the absolute right to gill net fish
free fronany state regulations.